George III, Twopence (Cartwheel) 1797 Very Fine

The current Governor of the Bank of England is Andrew Bailey. He also served as Chief Cashier at the Bank between 2007 and 2011, which meant his signature appeared on banknotes. He succeeded Mark Carney whose signature also appeared on banknotes – in Canada rather than the UK! We offer Crisp Uncirculated examples of the £10 note issued during Bailey’s tenure. (B400) A mature portrait of Queen Elizabeth II is on the front and the portrait of Charles Darwin is featured on the back alongside a vignette of a hummingbird. Crisp Uncirculated and of course long-vanished form circulation.

During the Second World War the Bank of England was concerned that the currency could be counterfeited. To thwart counterfeiters it was decided to change the colour of the £1 note from the traditional green to blue pink Perhaps the most significant change was the introduction of an embedded security thread in the body of the note. We regard this feature as standard today but then it was considered revolutionary. The bank ditched the new colours once the war was over reverting to the traditional green. The new security feature was retained. This is a classic note which any Bank of England collection should include. It is important because it was the first note to contain an embedded metal security thread. Available in AU/Unc. Image of note is a representative item from stock and will not necessarily be the actual item supplied.

The Channel Islands were the only part of British territory occupied by the Germans in World War II. The local residents in Guernsey wanted to issue small denomination notes for change as all metal coins had long disappeared from circulation. The Germans only allowed these small notes to be issued if the locals put up the equivalent in English Pounds. A total of 5000 £1 notes were taken from the vaults and overprinted 'Withdrawn from Circulation' so they could not be used by anyone, not even their German occupiers! A number of different types were taken from the bank that day but the ones we have on offer now are the Peppiatt pre-War issue of which there were a total of 1,885 surviving (B239A). All the serial numbers in the hoard which came to light over 20 years ago have been recorded and they are scarce. Very limited availability and an important part of our numismatic history.